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When I was 12, I became aware of the fact I posessed an unusually loud voice. Standing in the back of dance class one day, asking a friend for the time, I alerted the attention of a girl standing in the front row who turned around with an expression I can only describe as a mixture of shock and disbelief and said, “You have a very loud voice for a very small person.”

It was from then on I began to embrace my loud voice. Rather than stifle it, which, frankly, was impossible, I accepted it as one of my unique qualities and wore it proudly. My loud voice remains one of my greatest defining factors (and a real asset when I’m asked to make a speech and the microphone breaks). But it doesn’t come without its struggles. And if you’re a fellow high decibel speaker, you probably know these well too…

1. People often tell you to “calm down” because you say everything at the same volume as a 14 year-old girl sitting front row at a Taylor Swift concert.

2. People tend to focus more on how loudly you’re speaking than on what you’re actually saying.

3. You are often told to tone it down in movie theatres. And shopping malls. And at work. And the gym.

4. Which only makes you want to talk even louder.

5. You were always getting in trouble for talking at school, even though everyone else was too, because you were always the loudest one.

6. Whispering isn’t exactly your strong suit.

7. You often accidentally reveal details of gynecologist appointments, your sex life and bowel habits to complete strangers when you talk on the phone because you tend to forget your voice carries. A lot.

8. Your friends can usually hear you coming before they actually see you.

9. You tend to express excitement by screaming.

10. People assume you’re rude or angry simply because of your higher than average decibel level.

11. But really your loudness is just an expression of how much you love life. And what could possibly be wrong with that?